diff --git a/packages/config-yaml/src/registryClient.ts b/packages/config-yaml/src/registryClient.ts
index e889f76d7fd..afaddd2d9a4 100644
--- a/packages/config-yaml/src/registryClient.ts
+++ b/packages/config-yaml/src/registryClient.ts
@@ -48,9 +48,16 @@ export class RegistryClient implements Registry {
       return fs.readFileSync(new URL(filepath), "utf8");
     } else if (path.isAbsolute(filepath)) {
       return fs.readFileSync(filepath, "utf8");
-    } else if (this.rootPath) {
-      return fs.readFileSync(path.join(this.rootPath, filepath), "utf8");
     } else {
+      // Try to resolve relative to current working directory first
+      const resolvedPath = path.resolve(filepath);
+      if (fs.existsSync(resolvedPath)) {
+        return fs.readFileSync(resolvedPath, "utf8");
+      }
+      // Fall back to rootPath if file doesn't exist relative to cwd
+      if (this.rootPath) {
+        return fs.readFileSync(path.join(this.rootPath, filepath), "utf8");
+      }
       throw new Error("No rootPath provided for relative file path");
     }
   }